Results from a clinical trial conducted in 1,902 patients with high cholesterol showed that Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) provided greater reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol across the dosing ranges compared to Lipitor. At the most commonly used starting doses of these two therapies, Vytorin 10/20 mg decreased LDL cholesterol by 51 per cent compared with 36 per cent for Lipitor 10 mg (p<0.001), the Merck &Co said in a release. The results were presented at the American College of Cardiology's 2005 Annual Scientific Session.

In a subgroup of high risk patients (CHD or CHD risk equivalent), significant differences in LDL cholesterol reductions at these starting doses resulted in more patients achieving a goal of less than 100 mg/dL with Vytorin as compared to Lipitor; specifically, 82 per cent of high risk patients on Vytorin 10/20 mg achieved an LDL cholesterol goal of less than 100 mg/dL as compared to only 47 per cent for patients on Lipitor 10 mg. High- risk patients in the study with a goal of less than 100 mg/dL who were taking Vytorin 10/20 mg had a baseline LDL cholesterol of 166 mg/dL as compared to patients taking Lipitor 10 mg who had a baseline of 169 mg/dL, the release says.

Christie Ballantyne, director of the Centre for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Methodist DeBakey Heart Centre, Houston, Texas, and lead investigator of the study said, "This study demonstrated that not only did more high risk patients taking Vytorin 10/40 mg achieve the NCEP ATP III goal of less than 100 mg/dL as compared to Lipitor 40 mg, moreover the study also showed that a greater percentage, 57 per cent, of these high risk patients on Vytorin 10/40 mg also achieved an LDL cholesterol level of less than 70 mg/dL as compared to 23 per cent of patients taking Lipitor."

Vytorin was approved by the FDA on July 23, 2004 for the treatment of high LDL cholesterol in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed hyperlipidemia as adjunctive therapy to diet when diet alone is not enough. Vytorin is the first and only product approved to treat the two sources of cholesterol by inhibiting the production of cholesterol in the liver and blocking the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine, including cholesterol from food, the company claims.

The active ingredients in Vytorin are ezetimibe and simvastatin.